Tears of relief streamed down Juliette Anne Gerbes face after she was cleared of killing her boyfriend, ending two "bloody hard" High Court trials this year.
Twice in 2014 the young woman was forced to endure a manslaughter trial as the Crown attempted to prove she was criminally responsible for her 22-year-old partner's death. A hung jury in February forced the retrial.
Her boyfriend, Christopher Robin Jones, bled to death from a stab wound in the early hours of October 13, 2012, in Hastings.
Throughout the court proceedings Miss Gerbes denied any intent to stab her boyfriend after the pair had been fighting the night of Mr Jones' death.
"I just picked [the knife] up to scare him. Calling him out on his act or to shut him up," Miss Gerbes said during the second trial.
"It was like throwing a cup of water in his face ... It could have been a spoon that I would have held to his face."
The jury ultimately agreed with Miss Gerbes, who said Mr Jones had inexplicably grabbed her hands and pulled the knife towards him.
"There was so much blood and I'm freaking out and that's not what I intended when I picked the knife up."
Calm and composed throughout the ordeal, Miss Gerbes' emotions finally got the better of her as she was cleared of any criminal actions when the jury's verdict was read and Justice Lowell Goddard said "you are free to go".
She broke down in tears and hugged her large group of her anxious supporters sitting in the public gallery were also overwhelmed.
Her mother told Hawke's Bay Today afterwards that the trial was fair and had told both sides of the story but had been "bloody hard on her [daughter]".
Miss Gerbes' lawyer, Eric Forster, said his client handled herself with real dignity throughout the trials and can now "hopefully can now restart her life".
However, Mr Jones' family was understandably upset with the not guilty verdict and yelled abuse at Miss Gerbes as she embraced her parents and ended an arduous two years.
Mr Jones had died from a single stab wound resulted in "torrential bleeding" and an unrecognisable blood pressure he reached hospital.
His life could not be saved despite the "heroic job" of the emergency staff and surgeons.
The Crown's case, led by prosecutor Clayton Walker, was largely based on expert evidence and the location of the wound inflicted on Mr Jones.
The evidence stated that the wound on the young man's left side was inconsistent with a weapon being wielded in Miss Gerbes' left hand, as she had claimed. The Crown alleged the fatal blow was a result of Miss Gerbes thrusting with her right and dominant hand.
THE CASE
• Juliette Gerbes found not guilty in August of fatally stabbing her boyfriend.
• High Court retrial in Napier after a hung jury at the first trial in February.
• Christopher Robin Jones bled to death from a stab wound in the early hours of October 13, 2012, in Hastings.
• Quote of the trial: Justice Lowell Goddard to a tearful Miss Gerbes: "You are free to go."